Polymer Material Reacts to Impact in Protective BMX Sportswear

Swedish-based POC has good news for bikers and others who need back protection in falls. POC’s protective clothing uses a new impact-reactive material that stiffens on impact to act as a brace against injury. The material used in both a spine-protecting vest and tee is in the same family as the memory foam used in mattresses.

Visco Elastic Polymer Dough is a very shock-absorbing material used in the POC Spine VPD Armor line of protective clothing for cyclists. The polymer compound and the technology that produces the soft ergonomic material received its second Materialica Design and Technology award in 2009.